Hindu Law

1.

Hindu Law
By:-smit chauhan
Group:- 20LL10a

2.

Content
General characteristics of Hindu legal system
Classical Hindu law
History of its development
The structure of Hindu law
The source of Hindu law

3.

General characteristics of Hindu legal system
Hindu tradition, in its surviving ancient texts, does not universally express
the law in the canonical sense of ius or of lex.
The ancient term in Indian texts is Dharma, which means more than a
code of law, though collections of legal maxims were compiled into works
such as the Nāradasmṛti.
The term "Hindu law" is a colonial construction, and emerged after the
colonial rule arrived in South Asia, and when in 1772 it was decided by
British colonial officials,
that European common law system would not be implemented in India,
that Hindus of India would be ruled under their "Hindu law" and Muslims
of India would be ruled under "Muslim law" (Sharia).

4.

• Hindu law claims one of the longest continuous histories of any
legal system in the world.
• For about 2,500 years it was based on the same primary sources,
Sanskrit texts composed between ca. 500 BCE and 500 CE.
• These texts (dharmaśāstras) were considered to be revealed, and
were part of the eternal, unchangeable Veda.
• From about the seventh until the eighteenth century the basic texts
became the object of numerous commentaries,
• in which each author integrated the entire body of often
contradictory dharmaśāstras into coherent systems.

5.

Anglo-Hindu law
• John Mayne, in 1910, wrote that the classical Hindu law has the oldest pedigree of
any known system of jurisprudence.
• Mayne noted that while being ancient, the conflicting texts on almost every
question presents a great difficulty in deciding what the classical Hindu law was.
• As more literature emerges, and is translated or interpreted, Mayne noted that the
conflict between the texts on every matter of law has multiplied,
and that there is a lack of consensus between the Western legal scholars resident
in India.
• Ludo Rocher states that Hindu tradition does not express law in the sense of ius nor
of lex.
• The term "Hindu law" is a colonial construction, and emerged when the colonial rule
arrived in South Asia, and when in 1772 it was decided by British colonial officials in
consultation with Mughal rulers,

6.

• that European common law system would not be implemented in
India, that Hindus of India would be ruled under their "Hindu law"
and Muslims of India would be ruled under sharia (Muslim law).
• However, Hindu law was neither mentioned, nor in use, nor
codified, during the 600 years of Islamic rule of India.
• An attempt was made to find any old surviving Sanskrit text that
mentioned elements of law,
• and this is how Western editors and translators arrived at the
equation that "dharma shastra equals lawbook, code or Institute",
states Rocher

7.

•In 1772 the British decided to apply the law of the dharmaśāstras to Hindus in
the newly established Anglo-Indian courts of law.
•Yet, ignorance of the Sanskrit language, lack of familiarity with Hindu culture,
and the common law background of British judges led to fundamental
developments.
• In 1955–6 the Indian Parliament overruled most of traditional Hindu law with
four modern Acts—on marriage, succession, minority and guardianship, and
adoptions and maintenance.

8.

Modern indian law
• Modern Hindu law refers to one of the personal law systems of
India along with similar systems for Muslims, Sikhs, Parsis, and
Christians.
• This Hindu Personal Law or modern Hindu law is an extension of
the Anglo-Hindu Law developed during the British colonial period
in India,
• which is in turn related to the less well-defined tradition
of Classical Hindu Law.
• The time frame of this period of Hindu law begins with the formal
independence of India from Great Britain on August 14, 1947, and
extends up until the present.

9.

• India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and the then law minister Dr.
Babasaheb Ambedkar worked to unify the newly independent India by proposing
the reformation and codification of Hindu personal law.
• Nehru's efforts led to contentious debates over the so-called Hindu Code Bill,
which he offered in the Indian parliament, as a way to fix still unclear elements of
the Anglo-Hindu law.
• Nehru completed codification and partial reform, but overall the legal system
only slightly changed.
• In the end, a series of four major pieces of personal law legislation were passed
in 1955-56 and these laws form the first point of reference for modern Hindu
law:
• legislative moves purported to resolve still unclear parts of the Anglo-Hindu law,
the case law and interpretive tradition of British judges and Indian judges in the
British employ remained and remains crucial to the application of modern Hindu
law.

10.

source
Broadly, there are following types of sources of Hindu law:
Traditional/Ancient sources.
Sources of Anglo-Hindu law
Modern sources.

11.

• Traditional/ ancient sources
• Traditional sources refer to those ancient Hindu legal systems that
governed the conduct of Hindus in that particular time. The
traditional source of Hindu law is the guiding principle in the
present system also along with some modifications. So according to
the traditional source of Hindu law, there are 4 sources of Hindu
law, which are as follows:
• Shruti (Vedas)
• Smrities
• Digest and commentaries
• Customs

12.

Sources of Anglo-Hindu law
• Mayne and others used the Smriti to extract elements of AngloHindu law. Sir William Jones translated the Manu Smriti into
English, and it was largely the initial basis of Anglo-Hindu law.
• As new literature, such as Naradasmriti and Mitakshara were
discovered, disagreements between the smritis became difficult
to resolve.
• Later writers assumed that the Smritis constituted a single body
of law, one part supplementing the other and every part
capable of being reconciled with the other. Regional differences
in the texts made the situation more complex

13.

Modern sources of Hindu law
refers to those sources which are comparatively new sources that
emerged over time and evolved in the present form. Following are
the main source of Hindu law:
• Equity justice and good conscience
• Legislation
• Precedent

14.

structure of old hindu law
• Kings at the center of the court, facing the east- Sabhyas and Pradvivka on
his right facing the north side, bench clerk on the left accountant opposite
the bench clerk facing west. The King acted as the supreme judge and had
the final decision issued under his signature and seal.
• Pradvivakas and Sabhyas- assist the king in arriving at the truth and giving
correct judgment.
• Sabhyas seven, five or three in number—selected for their knowledge of the
law and they had to advise the king on laws applicable to the case. Including
only the people well versed in the Vedic lore and civil law.
• Bench clerk wrote down the pleading made orally in the case.
• Accountant made calculation of money involved in the suits.
• Sadhyapala preserved the order in the court, execute its decrees and see to
the attendance of parties and witnesses.

15.

• The decision of a case in ancient India was based on eight sources
according to brahmanical law givers. These sources are the three Pramanas
(possession, documents, and witnesses) logical inference, the usages of the
country, sapathas (oaths and ordeals), the kings edict and admission of the
litigants. If there were cases where no possessions, documents and
recourse can be provided the decision of the King became the ultimate
authority.
• Four parts of a trial—
• Pratijna - plaint or complaint
• Uttaram — answer of written statement
• Kriya — Trial
• Nirnaya — Decision according to Yajnavalkya

16.

structure of modern law

17.

Conclusion
The ancient term in Indian texts is Dharma, which means more than a code of law,
though collections of legal maxims were compiled into works such as
the Nāradasmṛti.
The term "Hindu law" is a colonial construction,and emerged after the colonial rule
arrived in South Asia, and when in 1772 it was decided by British colonial officials,
that European common law system would not be implemented in India, that Hindus
of India would be ruled under their "Hindu law" and Muslims of India would be ruled
under "Muslim law".
The substance of Hindu law implemented by the British was derived from
a Dharmaśāstra named Manusmriti, one of the many treatises (śāstra) on Dharma.
The British, however, mistook the Dharmaśāstra as codes of law and failed to
recognise that these Sanskrit texts were not used as statements of positive law until
the British colonial officials chose to do so.

18.

Thank you